|
|
|
"It's kind of like changing a diaper and rolling a joint": Inside the Coup de Taco truck's Night Market madness
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
"It's kind of like changing a diaper and rolling a joint": Inside the Coup de Taco truck's Night Market madness
 |
 |
| Photos | Juliana Reyes |
Current CP news intern Juliana Reyes found herself working the Coup de Taco truck at last week's maniacally attended Food Trust Night Market on Passyunk Avenue. Here is her first-hand report.
It's only 7 p.m., one hour into the first-ever Night Market, and order tickets smother the inside of the Coup de Taco (CdT) truck. We've run out of magnets and space to put the tickets up, so co-founder Peter Berman, who's working the truck window tonight, is hoarding them at his makeshift desk. "How are we doing?" Berman asks Aaron Dessen and Jonathon Zilber, the guys crafting the tacos. "Should I cut them off?" He looks to the overwhelming crush of people waiting for food. The line is crawling around Passyunk Avenue, and Berman worries they'll run out of ingredients soon.
The CdT kids didn't know what to expect of last Thursday's wildly successful Night Market, so they arrived with a limited amount of supplies. But things started to heat up within the first 10 minutes of the market's opening. The guys made frantic calls to their kitchen, only to find out that it was too late — it had already closed for the night. Special events usually call for another set of hands in the truck, and since a friend of mine works at CdT, I found myself moonlighting as a taco-runner.
 |
| Photo | Juliana Reyes |
When I get to the truck, which is camouflaged in Entourage propaganda due to a CdT/HBO collab, the boys usher me in. I get a quick rundown of the space: Dessen, who's worked the taco line for a year now, shows me where they grill the tortillas and roll 'em up. "It's kind of like changing a diaper and rolling a joint," he tells me. "I know. It's an awkward combination." Hmm. Luckily my only actual responsibilities lie in making sweet tea and sending the food out. Working inside CdT is a bit of a whirlwind experience. Berman chats up every customer as he jots down their orders, while Dessen and Zilber furiously work a fusion taco assembly line, dressing the tortillas in duck sauce and Americanized kimchi (part kimchi, part coleslaw). Zilber's iPod wails Phoenix and Kimya Dawson to eager customers. My job is certainly the easiest, and it's perhaps the most satisfying: Everyone grins at me when I hand them their tacos. One guy actually does a victory dance after I call his name. At just barely 8 p.m., we run out of tacos entirely. The line's still ridiculously long. Berman shouts an apology to the crowd and encourages everyone to visit the truck at 40th and Locust or in LOVE Park, their new once-a-week spot.
 |
| Photo | Juliana Reyes |
"I am in shock," Berman says. "I can't believe what just happened." The boys sold about 200 tacos in two hours. On a normal day, they sell about 100 tacos in four hours. Berman says he's not as into the day-to-day truck thing as much as he is working these kinds of events. "It's where the glory is," Zilber says. The Night Market is still going strong as the truck closes down. People keep approaching us and asking if we're still selling; the CdT are disappointed in having to close down so soon. Next time they'll be sure to come prepared. Till Bloktoberfest.
We got some of the last tacos and thought about re-selling them to the tacoless for an increased price! I also got a regular customer card, and i can't wait to fill the card up with stamps cause their tacos are delish.
Nice read. It seems insane to me that Coup de Taco and almost all the other vendors weren't prepared at all for the volume of customers. What were they expecting? The whole thing, while cool, was kind of a bust. Needs a lot of work.
This was so much fun to read!
- barstool scientist
- Booze
- Brew Revue
- Chef Salad
- Closings
- Coffee
- Contests
- Dealage
- Dirty Dishes
- Don't Front
- Eat This Immediately
- Field Trip
- Food and Art
- Food and Holidays
- Food and Movies
- Food and Music
- Food and Politics
- Food and Sports
- Food and Web
- Food Blogs
- Food Books
- Food Events
- Food News
- Food TV
- Gifted
- Happy Hour Hopper
- How-To
- In Print
- Interview
- Meal Ticket
- Menu Time
- Not So Quickfire
- Notes from the Weekend
- On Wheels
- Openings
- Patio Drinking
- Philly Beer Week 2010
- Photos
- Private Chef POV
- Product Placement
- Recipes
- Snack Time
- Stiff Drank
- SUPPER
- Tea
- Testing
- Ticket Stubs
- Top Chef
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Video
- Weekly Candy
- Weird Regional Foods
- We're Here to Help
- Where'd We Eat?
- Drew Lazor's Ill-Advised Rant Factory
- Pregame
- Ill-Advised Ranting
- The Week Without Meat
- Philly Beer Week 2009
- Real Big
- Where'd I Eat Last Night?
- Top Chef Masters
- The Good Word
- Next Iron Chef
- Arterial Terrorism
- Food and Radio
